The killer flu of 1918, which had broken out at Camp Dix in mid-September, was about to overwhelm the U.S. Army and explode across the state and onto the high seas. The Philadelphia Bulletin reported on Sept. 25, “Thirty-six soldiers died from Spanish influenza at Camp Dix during the past twenty-four hours, bringing the total of deaths from that disease to 96.”

The same day, the Trenton Times published a notice that shows how desperate the situation had become.